Tibet: US Asked Respect of Religious Freedom

The United States asked China's Communist Party to allow religious and political freedom for its 1.3 billion people, including Tibetans

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The United States on Monday asked China's Communist Party
leadership to talk to the Dalai Lama's representatives on the vexed Tibet issue
and allow religious and political freedom for its 1.3 billion people, including
Tibetans.

"The United States hopes that there will be improved relations
with the Catholic Church, with the Dalai Lama's representatives so that Tibetans
can clearly pursue their cultural interests," Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice told reporters at the end of her talks with China's top leadership, including
President Hu Jintao since Sunday.

US ready to counter China: Rice

China has ruled out talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual
leader, Dalai Lama, unless he renounces his quest for Tibetan independence and
publicly states that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable part of Chinese territory.

"If Dalai sincerely hopes to improve the relations with
China, he should face up to the reality in a comprehensive and objective way,
truly give up his proposition of Tibet independence, and stop all actions of
secession. He should also publicly declare that Tibet is an inalienable part
of China and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the only
legal government that represents China," the Chinese Foreign Ministry had
said in a statement on March 15.

"The government will listen to what he says and more importantly
observe what he does," the statement said in response to the Dalai Lama's
latest conciliatory statements on March 10.

The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 after a failed
uprising.